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Mirvac

Fitness Trends

Shape up for summer

Shake up your exercise routine this spring with new-style work-outs guaranteed to keep you fit and put a smile on your face.

There’s always a new exercise
regimen on the horizon, with plenty of people claiming it’s the greatest thing
since sliced bread. We look at four of the latest fitness trends, so you can
decide which one might be right for you.

Aerial Yoga

What
is it? Yoga performed in a hammock.

What
it involves: Picture your usual yoga class, but you’re hanging
from the ceiling on a soft, fabric hammock that looks like a long scarf instead
of a mat. Made from special, high-density nylon material, these hammocks are held
up by carabiners, chains and webbing straps so you can perform various
traditional poses and aerial adaptations while being fully supported.

Benefits:
Improves flexibility, core and muscle strength since the hammock gives you more
freedom of movement, and therefore a deeper stretch.

Barre

What
is it? A combination of ballet,
yoga and Pilates using a ballet barre as a prop to balance while doing high-rep
exercises.

What
it involves: In the one-hour class you’ll start with a warm-up
and a sequence of upper-body exercises which include free weights, push-ups,
planks and other moves to target the biceps, triceps, chest and back muscles.
Next, you’ll use the ballet barre and your own body weight for resistance to
focus on the thigh and seat muscles. Your core will be switched on the entire
class and for cool down you’ll work through a series of stretches to increase
flexibility and allow your muscles to recover.

Benefits:
The fusion allows you to tone and strengthen your body, improve posture and
increase flexibility while also burning a whole heap of calories.

Megaformer (Lagree Method)

What
is it? Like Pilates, these classes on the megaformer machine
(developed by Sebastien Lagree, who wanted to add a tougher body-building edge
to Pilates) give you an intense work-out that will make your muscles shake and
burn. It addresses Lagree’s five elements of fitness – cardio, strength,
endurance, body composition and flexibility – without high-impact movements.

What
it involves: The typical high-intensity, low-impact 40-minute
routine will consist of a core warm-up with funny names like catfish and
wheelbarrow, 20 minutes of lower-body exercises like skater and spider lunge, and
a series of upper-body moves such as swimmer and sexy back. So it’s very
different to your usual reformer Pilates class.

Benefits:
It will chisel, sculpt and tone, turning your body into a lean,
fat-burning machine.

It will chisel, sculpt and tone, turning your body into a lean, fat-burning machine.

Bounce Fit

What
is it? Harnessing the benefits of rebound exercise, this
is a group fitness class performed on a trampoline.

What
it involves: For 45 minutes you will bounce up and down on a
trampoline following a Bounce routine, which is a high-intensity, low-impact
cardio work-out. There are three different classes to choose from:

Move – which combines cardio and core fitness,

Blast – cardio and strength blasts, and

Core – which develops core strength and balance
through a series of low-impact exercises.

Benefits:
Improves and strengthens your core, all-over muscle tone and lifts your
heart rate… plus it will make you laugh a lot.